Drama Actors Roundtable: Pedro Pascal, Damson Idris, And More
Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us & The Mandalorian) Damson Idris (Snowfall & Swarm), Jeff Bridges (The Old Man), Kieran Culkin (Succession), Michael Imperioli (The White Lotus), and Evan Peters (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) sit down for a roundtable interview with Lacey Rose.
“I remember early because of Game of Thrones. The way that my character died…people were super into taking selfies with their thumbs in my eyes.”
Rose begins the discussion by asking each of the actors about encounters they had with fans. Specifically, Rose inquires about what fans reference the most when speaking to them. Culkin is the first to respond, saying how weird and uncomfortable it is that people think it’s okay to touch him. Culkin recounts a time when a man approached him and slapped his shoulder while walking with his child. Idris relates to Culkin, claiming to be always followed, and how the bizarre closeness some fans feel to him leads Idris to state, “I’m apparently married to everyone—I’m apparently everyone’s husband.”
Pascal also talks about how touchy some of his fans can be. Back when he was on Game of Thrones (GOT), Pascal was initially earnest and happy about the success of his character (Oberyn Martell) to the point where he let fans take selfies with their thumbs near his eyes. Sadly, Pascal reveals he later developed an eye infection most likely due to letting fans do that to his eyes. Bridges claims The Big Lebowski is the one he’s most remembered for while Peters says it’s from American Horror Story. Unsurprisingly, Imperioli is referenced to The Sopranos quite often when encountering fans. However, since working on The White Lotus, Imperioli has been approached by many new, younger fans for the past year.
“Something that I’ve actually found strange, and discovered in life, is the fact that it [portrayal] does weigh on you because I have always felt like…forced myself to not be romantic about the process. That doesn’t mean to not take it seriously, but I can’t leave it at home.”
Continuing Imperioli’s discussion about new fans due to his latest project, Rose asks the actors if they had any reservations going into the projects they are currently in. Peters reveals that before Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, he didn’t want to play another bad guy for a while. He had a change of heart after reading Dahmer’s script. Peters had little prior knowledge of Jeffrey Dahmer, and he recalls how upset he was after learning about how often the police and justice department failed to stop Dahmer. He explains how racism, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice were significant factors in these failures. Peters felt compelled to push himself and dig into Dahmer’s identity by giving it his all. It was difficult, but Peters felt confident that the message of the project was worth the effort.
Peters further elaborates on his prior reservations about Dahmer as being based on the difficulty of playing a “bad guy.” For Peters, it wasn’t easy to pop out of a role as intense and evil as Jeffrey Dahmer’s and transition to daily life. Peters grappled with his uncertainty for six months and, fearing failure, spent as much time as he could working on emulating every aspect of Dahmer. Pascal chimes in, agreeing with Peters on how difficult it is to keep portrayals from seeping into daily life. Pascal admits that as he gets older, and no matter what he does, pieces of his roles follow him home. Nowadays, Pascal feels like he was naïve in the past for not putting much credence into how the boundaries between home and work get blended.
Idris explains how the cast and crew of Snowfall do ten episodes per season. In the latest season, Idris admits to hitting a mental block for a week. To get around it, Idris went into a corner of his residence, stared at the wall, and repeatedly chanted, “Come on devil.” He explains the reason he did this was to hopefully channel some inspiration and do something unexpected from drawing upon chaotic tendencies. Ironically, Idris claims to have had nightmares for a month soon after doing that exercise. Instead of answering, Bridges asks Peters if he was left with anything positive after Dahmer that could be used in a future project.
In response, Peters stated he ultimately learned what he could do, couldn’t do, and what he needed to work on. He then brings up his role on Mare of Easttown. Peters praised the talent and performance of his costar Kate Winslet. He sees Winslet as a leader who talks to everyone and is compassionate to those on set. Since then, Peters has looked up to Winslet and tried to carry on that practice for Dahmer. Approaching Dahmer in that manner made Peters realize how an amazing team is formed when a huge group of individuals works together with the same goal in mind. Pascal agrees with the sentiment, adding that Peters conducted an interesting and complicated process to navigate his energy. In Pascal’s opinion, this is especially true because of the social construct of making any television show or movie— “We’re all together in a social experience.”
“If you see characters that force you to transform, then you’re going to be fine because you could go towards the light…I played a drug dealer, and I’m definitely not going to play a drug dealer again for a long time.”
Shifting the focus of the conversation to Idris and Culkin, Rose mentions how both actors have come to the end of their respective roles with the series finales of Snowfall and Succession. She asks how both actors coped with finishing those chapters in their lives. Idris explains how he often sees people in the industry jump between different realms of media. After doing TV work, Idris feels he will try being in a film as his next project. Ultimately, he is looking for a portrayal he has never done before and will shy away from repeating one.
Culkin felt Succession was a great show to be on but is a bit afraid to think about what his next job may be. He is worried about not receiving the same amount of freedom he and other actors experienced on the set of Succession. While he believes Succession could have continued past its finale, Culkin is proud of the work done on and off set.
Rose, wishing to give Idris and Culkin an opportunity to learn, asks Imperioli if he has any advice for the two actors. Particularly, Rose questions Imperioli about what he did and didn’t do after The Sopranos. Imperioli suggests not thinking in terms of career moves, but, instead, looking for the next interesting part. He believes people make mistakes, especially in television when thoughts like, “So next time, I have to be the star,” or “The next thing has got to be a hit,” surface frequently. Speaking from experience, Imperioli claims to have seen many actors get into trouble for allowing similar thoughts to dictate their actions.
Regarding feedback from The Sopranos, Imperioli feels like he has internalized all the rejection and insecurities he faced during auditions. To him, it all feels like a miracle when he lands a job. Culkin says he related to Imperioli’s “back to the drawing board” mindset after completing a project. Culkin thinks knowing his next two or three jobs is panic inducing. He prefers a job to be done, a period of nothing, and then a job comes along.
“I think it’s when you close the story the right way, it works. But there’s just so many shows today where it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna get a spin-off’… I think you just have to let it go—I’ve accepted that show and that character belongs to the people.”
Rose brings up how Damson Idris and Idris Elba would once text each other about the fate of Damson’s character years. Rose wants to know what those conversations about Snowfall were like. (Damson) Idris feels that the typical story of a drug dealer on television is either dying or going to jail. The premise of Snowfall, according to Idris, is along the lines of the drug dealer losing everything and now wandering into the abyss. Both he and Elba see the story of Snowfall as synonymous with many people in that dark part of the world. Both actors also agreed that money gets in the way of properly ending TV shows. Networks want to milk out as much money as they can and do so through methods like spin-offs.
Going back to address all the actors, Rose asks them if their latest projects opened any doors. Pascal claims to have had the fortune of experiencing jobs and roles that are part of franchises and franchise-sized successes. Within these projects, Pascal reveals how well actors are taken care of in terms of their level of exposure. He sees actors who are given the opportunity to elevate or nurture franchises as being very lucky. However, Pascal also reiterates how taking part in a franchise can be a big risk. The risk comes from how large the project is and the pressure to live up to the expectations of fan bases to best play out the story. When facing that level of pressure, Pascal has learned to compartmentalize his feelings on the topic to better address the stress and expectations he puts on himself versus the pressure that exists.
He admits to initially being afraid of stepping into The Mandalorian and the greater Star Wars universe. Pascal felt the same way about The Last of Us. He views franchises as having a silhouette of “coolness” and expectancy to be met as far as what people’s immersive experience of the story entailed. To disappoint fans in that manner would be difficult in Pascal’s opinion because, like most, he wants people to like him. Despite that, Pascal realizes nobody is impervious to disappointing people. Curious, Culkin asks Pascal if has played the video games from The Last of Us franchise. Pascal said he played the first game after getting the role. Apparently, Pascal didn’t know about games beforehand but quickly came to learn about them through his nephews. Funny enough, he wasn’t good at playing the games.
“I always knew there was so much creative ground being broken within the world of video games. I had known that was happening, but I just didn’t have the discipline or the skill to go along.”
On the topic of video games, Bridges brings up his work on Tron. He reveals how the entire film was shot in 70-millimeter black and white film which was hand-tinted by a group of women in South Korea. Tron was Steven Lisberger’s first movie as a director, and Bridges recalls Lisberger’s unique idea to line the sound stages with arcade games.
Shifting the focus to Imperioli, Rose asks him what doors have opened for him and if Hollywood is seeing him in a different light. Imperioli claims to have started receiving more invites to parties and events since The White Lotus. He appreciates the large number of young fans the show has garnered, many of whom have never watched The Sopranos. As such, this younger fanbase doesn’t have a preconceived opinion of Imperioli. When Bridges asks about The White Lotus director and writer Michael White, Imperioli states he regards White as a talented artist. He is impressed with how collaborative White is with everyone on set despite writing and directing every episode. Imperioli never once saw White raise his voice or lose his cool.
White is also apparently fast. When HBO approached White to create a show they could shoot during the pandemic, Imperioli reveals White had written up the entire first and second seasons of White Lotus in two months. Peters chimes in to let everyone know how he was once offered a role in season two of The White Lotus. Unfortunately, the production and shooting of Dahmer didn’t match the schedule and Peters had to pass on the offer. A decision he somewhat regrets. Following Peters’ train of thought, Rose asks the actors about what they tend to hear when casting directors contact them. She is curious about what things deter them from taking the job. Idris reveals he is reluctant to play a role similar to himself. When stepping into a portrayal, he wants to transform—not see himself.
“I think that there are things you have to let go of in terms of what can be an OCD-level of attention to detail.”
For The Mandalorian, Pascal had an extended amount of experimentation wearing the Mandalorian suit before settling on just doing the voice. He claims his body was not up to the task but admits to often thinking about what would have been different if he did. Nevertheless, Pascal believes he and production figured out the dynamics well. He appreciates The Mandalorian for allowing him to try something new and different. Pascal came to learn that sometimes one needs to let go of what’s out of their control. He suddenly claims that everyone at the table is here and has their shows thanks to The Sopranos because it broke the wheel as far as “what could be done.”
After thanking Pascal, Imperioli admits to once seeing the opportunity to play on a cable series to be a “bargain basement” with no prestige. He didn’t have a sense that The Sopranos broke new ground when first reading the pilot script. It wasn’t until the first episode aired that Imperioli began to see the potential in the show. When Rose asks the other actors if they are good at predicting the success of projects, everyone immediately responded in the negative. For Bridges, any sense of predicting success typically involves high expectations jointly connected to a “collage” of factors that occur on set. If the collage is done right, the result exceeds expectations—that moment is what is described by Bridges as the “wonderful” moment.
Idris talks about how when working with Snowfall director John Singleton, he encountered many occurrences that made him think, “Oh, this could work.” Culkin agrees with Idris, elaborating how his work on Succession was the first time he felt what Idris was describing. Succession was the first TV show Culkin worked on, and through his time on set, he learned the difference between TV and film. With a movie, it’s finished and it’s none of Culkin’s business if it’s good or bad. The mindset was different for a TV show. With Succession, Culkin felt more of a vested interest in its success and completion. He remembers thinking the shoots were good quality, but at the same time, had thoughts in the back of his mind asking, “Who is going to watch this show?” Halfway through season one, Culkin starts believing the show is going to be well-liked.
Pascal adds that he is having fun shooting The Last of Us. With his latest portrayal, Pascal has observed how his most recent characters are role-related to fatherhood. The Mandalorian is very “Daddy” to Grogu (Baby Yoda), and Joel (The Last of Us) is a father figure to Ellie. Pascal finds it ironic since he isn’t a father, nor does he ever plan to be one.
“The one thing that we deserve is to actually let go.”
Returning to a topic frequently brought up by Pascal and Peters, Rose asks Bridges how his role in The Old Man bled into his life. Since the show tackles topics like aging and mortality, Rose is curious if Bridges had a different perspective on the other side of what he went through battling cancer. Bridges explains how the show wasn’t different, more so focused on the same things. Bridges reveals he was diagnosed with cancer during season one of The Old Man but managed to overcome it. He claims love was the deciding factor. “When you’re dancing with your mortality, you’ve realized how much you love the people that love you,” adding that feeling that love intensified every emotion Bridges was experiencing. To come back after two years of being sick and in recovery was a surreal experience for Bridges. Seeing how active the cast and crew were despite his long break hammered home how fast everything went for Bridges.
Pascal agrees with Bridges. Having been chasing jobs for many years, Pascal experienced a lot of heartbreak to the point where it became a built-in response to get the assignment done at any cost. It wasn’t until Pascal received a certain job that changed things for him. While shooting Kingsman: The Golden Circle in the early days of production, Pascal talks about the opportunity he had to sit at a table with Bridges. Sitting down and witnessing Bridges’ work was a valuable learning experience for Pascal. In his opinion, the enthusiasm he saw in Bridges that day made him feel like he was observing someone who was in his earlier jobs. Pascal committed to heart to never forget to care about whatever he is doing as much as Bridges, a man he sees as working harder than he ever has.
Wanting to learn from Bridges, Peters asks Bridges about what he experiences when delving deep into a role. Does he suddenly think about what should have been done differently on the way home? To this, Bridges advises Peters to practice letting go. He even recommends Peters read up on techniques from Dutch motivational speaker Wim Hof, specifically breathing exercises. Pascal also offers advice to Peters. He believes at the end of the day, the hardest thing for an actor to do is to figure out what the relationship is with themselves. To go into that conversation with oneself can be fulfilling. Being able to let go is something everyone deserves.
Rose closes the interview by asking the actors if there is anything left on their professional bucket lists. Pascal expresses his wish to be in an ensemble of roughly six performers. Bridges wants to try to attempt things he’s been resisting. Peters explains his desire to do a play since he hasn’t done one since high school. Culkin, having no idea, jokingly comments about wanting to play as a taller man. Imperioli wishes to work more with actor F. Murray Abraham after having the pleasure of costarring alongside him in The White Lotus. Lastly, Idris desires to portray real-life people, specifically a musician if given the chance.